There s something inside me
That pulls beneath the surface
Consuming, confusing
This lack of self-control I fear is never ending
Controlling
I can t seem to find myself again
My walls are closing in
I ve felt this way before
So insecure
(Linkin Park:  CRAWLING )
Alexander Wichert & Sebastian  MaDSaM Meusel present a tale of bone chilling
horror and ice-cold terror in the vastness of space. On a desolate moon a station
rumoured  haunted and full of claustrophobic soldiers is doomed to fall into chaos,
with the PCs right in the midst as the only hope of survival.
 The Haunting of Derelict Station
Or
The Derelicts of Iblis:
(A FADING SUNS Adventure devised by Alexander Wichert
Written down and reworked by Sebastian  MaDSaM Meusel)
Setting and Mood or  Where the Hell are we? :
The mystery takes place on a small moon orbiting Iblis, the furthermost planet of the
Byzantium system.The moon s name is  Derelict . Here, the Imperial Fleet maintains
a small sentinel outpost to watch the incoming ships which flock through the system s
jumpgate. Iblis is an icy, uninhabitable, rather small world not unlike Urth s Pluto. (For
a further description of Iblis and Derelict see the FS Sourcebook:  Byzantium
Secundus ) Derelict is a tiny desolate rock with just enough mass to provide it a
mostly rounded form and a rather low gravity. (The gravitation can easily be modified
by the GM, to add more drama to the game, by forcing the PCs to manoeuvre
through a low gravity, or by keeping the crew under the additional stress of high
gravity.) The moon has no atmosphere and the station is kept under high priority
airlock at any time.
No slug guns or energy weapons are allowed aboard the station and all characters
will be forced to leave them behind, except for cybernetic weapons which will only be
disarmed. The primary  personal weapons aboard the station are knifes, Clubs,
batons, and charge weapons, such as stunners. Nothing which could pierce the outer
hull is allowed.
The station itself is crammed and claustrophobic, to say the least. There is
respirational water dripping from every surface, for the ancient air-refreshing-units
work at only minimum efficiency. Clothes, bedrolls and food will be damp in almost no
time, once brought upon the station and not put into one of the drying/cooling areas.
(This will add highly to the discomfort of the PCs, which you should play up to the
fullest. Think of the more ugly parts of the  Nostromo in  Alien or the settler s station
in  Aliens AFTER the attack.  Moon 44 provides an ample view of how downtrodden
a space station can be). Food is typical military rations and no alcoholic drinks are
allowed, except for a bottle of highly illegal and valuable scotch in the officer s
lounge.
This is the worst assignment the Imperial fleet has to offer and mostly discredits and
convicted criminals come here to keep them from the eyes of the higher ups. Some
of them did illegal deals with army equipment, others smuggled for the Scravers,
others stole from their comrades some displayed violent streaks on duty and some
are even prostitutes and murderers.
What all of them have in common is that they all got caught, and all were in the end
too valuable for the Fleet to be put to death or thrown out. But all had to be punished
in some way. All of them have one or two special abilities or traits, which make them
unique and valuable for the Imperial Fleet. So the PCs find themselves surrounded
by some of the worst cutthroats in service to the Empire, but at the same time by
some of its best and most valuable men and women. Just be sure to make it an
exotic and explosive mix.
A few months ago, rumors have spread about Derelict Station and Iblis. Something of
great value is supposed to be hidden on the desolate planet. Something a daring
pilot and a good crew could uncover and make a fortune. Some say that the station is
haunted and voices can be heard in the night, crying out for help and trying to lure
the unaware traveller or soldier to the surface of the cold world below. The Inquisition
has quarantined Iblis and is not allowing any space travel nearer than the station. A
contingent of Avestite and Brother Battle forces is also rumoured to keep constant
watch over the space between the planet and and the moon. Cabin fever is a very
big problem aboard the station. Adding to the dark mix of mystery and desperation.
No few of its soldiers have succumbed to hysteria and terror. Sometimes even
running amok and endangering the whole crew, it is said.
Story seeds or,  How the Hell do I get my Players to go THERE?
Good question.
But as good  Ghost-GMs we ll provide some answers for you.
1. TOP SECRET MISSION:
The PCs have already had some contact with the Royal fleet or are currently in its
service. So their superiors ordered them to investigate a recent accident and possible
murder aboard the station. Under strict order of secrecy, for the higher ups don t want
to blow up the rumors already flowing around and don t want the Avestites to
quarantine the Station for possible  Occult Infection . The PCs will go in under cover
and are to find out who murdered a fellow soldier. The victim was one private  Ally
Jameson . Her tour of duty was almost over, but she was killed in one of the
maintenance airlocks whilst preparing for a reparations walk on the moon s surface.
She was a trained soldier, a very good technician and had had many walks outside
before. No system failure could be detected in the machinery. And a soldier soon to
be taken from that assignment would not go and kill herself a few days before her
leave. The PCs superiors are aware of the improbability of such a thing. So they
suspect sabotage or murder. The questions are WHO and WHY?
2. UNEASY QUESTIONS:
The PCs ship was damaged before they could jump from whatever system they
came from. And the only landing port within safe distance is Derelict Station. Whether
the ship was damaged during the jump or an asteroid struck is not important, just
have them land on Derelict. Maybe some third party pursues them and they ll have to
explain the ship s obvious  Battle Bruises to the station technicians and
quartermaster. And that same third party will be out for their heads as soon as they
leave the station and the protection of the Imperial Fleet. Anyway, they re stuck for at
least a weeek aboard the station and will have to get comfortable with what they ll
find. If the PCs are pursued by the church forces or even Avestites, then the captain
will deny the church ship permission to land but he will let the PCs ship land without
questions at first. His orders are to keep church investigators from his station and to
investigate in any distress signal received and, if possible, to provide help to any
damaged ship coming into his vincinity. Over time, church officials and fleet superiors
will cut a deal. One Avestite deacon is allowed upon the station to question the PCs
but if they committed any wrong they are under law and jurisdiction of the Imperial
fleet and as such the Emperor himself. You can play out a very nice questioning
session with the PCs by donning the role of the Avestite and taking every player
separately into another room and have the Deacon question him/her. If you re feeling
particularly nasty, then pick out one of your players (one who deserves it) and have
the Avestite give him /her a wink and a handshake. Let the others notice. He will
have done this to none of them. Then sit back and watch paranoia creep into your
players. The investigator s reason behind this is quite simple. He hopes that the
suspects will fall to inner conflict and uncover their crime to his watchful eye
themselves. He ll be waiting, listening and watching.
3. FREELANCE TREASURE HUNTING:
The PCs are smugglers, pirates, fortune hunters or just yeomen out for high profit.
Among the rumors surrounding the station are some that something of immeasurable
value lies down on the planet. Buried in the ice, just waiting to be uncovered. Some
murmur about Secionmd Republic ruins or even Annunaki devices lost to the cold of
space. Anyway, incredible wealth is waiting for those who can dodge the fleet and
the Avestites and land on the planet s surface. But don t forget to bring your winter
clothes.
In any case, the soldiers of Derelict Station will catch the PCs. Either the Fleet
provides temporary shelter for ships being pursued by Avestite Forces or they catch
the trespassers in the act. In space or on the planet s surface they will be eager to
get away for fear of the planet s true secrets and the Inquisition. The PCs will then be
brought to the Station and held in custody until transporters arrives with new
crewmembers. That transport is going to take them to a Byzantium Secundus prison.
But that transport isn t going to arrive within the next week. An interesting side effect
of this story seed is that the PCs are held in prison and must find their way out, whilst
chaos and terror slowly take hold of the station. (This can be combined with the
Avestite investigation. He could convince the captain to take the PCs into custody.
And maybe they are the only ones to notice the strange things happening around
them & )
The Story or,  What the PCs will see.
Once the PCs arrive at the station they ll notice that none is very happy to have them
around. Because they re not a relief crew, they ll only tighten up the already crammed
space. The station is in working order, but nowhere as clean and orderly as for
example Cumulus and a far cry of Diadem. As stated above, water is dripping from
every sheer surface and covering flat surfaces within minutes. Everything is damp
and slick. In less frequented areas there could well be some algae or moss growing
undisturbed. Beads of sweat will form on each character s skin as soon as they enter
the docking bay. It s not so much the warmth; which is just a bit too high, as the
humidity of the air circulating the station for all eternity. The stench of sweat is
everywhere, mixed with the unmistakable sharp odour of burning cables. Lights will
be gloomy and sparse, for short outs appear with almost frightening regularity. There
simply is no use in changing every single light bulb aboard every two or three days.
The  quarters the station can provide for the PCs are mere benches to lay their
bedrolls on. If they are able to, the PCs may sleep in their ship. This will meet the
NPCs approval, because the station needs every inch of free space to fight cabin
fever.
The stationed soldiers all display a kind of  haunted look and very pale skin, with
deep grooves under their eyes and a continual frown etched into their features.
Though all remain at peak fitness and eficiency. All except for the most mentally
stable fight claustrophobia at all times. Any man or woman of the crew spoken to by
the PCs can give a remark about  claustrophobia being their worst enemy hinting on
the Situation aboard.
Once the PCs are un-comfortable aboard the station and make for their first night,
they ll receive the first signs that something is not quite right. Strange visions and
images are disturbing their dreams. (See below) Whispered voices can be heard, but
barely understandable. If they are understood (make a high PSI-Test), then some will
call out for the humans to leave the moon and the planet as fast as possible. Others
will try to convince them to stay and come down to the planet s surface. The voices
trying to convince the crew to leave occur only in the docking bay near a damaged
shuttle, which is held there for later repairs. Here, one of the hauntings takes place.
(see below). Characters with psychic abilities will notice all this all the sooner.
The dreams are blurry and occur amidst the character s own dreams. Breaking to the
surface just before waking up. Make sure the players acknowledge the fact that these
are dreams and that they re not sure to have received a vision or something. Mix in
what images you think the character would likely dream of or better, have the players
in turn describe their dreams and whisper one of the following phrases to them while
they speak. DON`T repeat them! If a player does not understand what you said then
his character can t remember anything strange in the morning. But give them a fair
chance. As long as not stated otherwise, any PC or NPC alike can receive the
dreams. The stationed crew is experiencing the  first night s dream , since their
own arrival. It has been so for about 8 months now.
The Dreams include and continue as following:
First and second night aboard:
Absolute darkness surrounds you. You are terrified. You call out, but nobody
can hear you. You don t want to be alone. You want others to come to you.
Come down below the surface.
Third night aboard:
(same as above and)
Absolute Darkness surrounds you, but in the distance there are tiny sparks of
light. Far, far away. Something calling out for you. The sparks slowly grow
closer.
4th night aboard:
Darkness! The terror is still there, but now you are not alone anymore.
Someone heard your call. You must help him find you! You are happy.
Describe the following to the player with the highest Psi score:
A gigantic, dark chasm is seen from space. It s cracked line a scar in the
surface of the icy vastness. A feeling of dread emits from the very centre of
that abyss. But at the same time something compels the onlooker to come
down into its dark embrace. Almost like a cry for help.
5th night aboard:
Darkness! Beloved darkness! The sparks are now brighter and much closer.
You do not like the light. But you must come to aid! Urgent!
Description for the highest Psi PC:
The sparks still grow bigger. It is a sun. Surrounded by planets.
6th night aboard:
Everything is dark. You are surrounded by absolute darkness, and gripped by
feelings of dread and absolute terror. Far above a cracked line of light. The
light hurts! You must get past the light! The light scares you! But you must get
up there! OUT! They heard you! You are happy!
Description as above: (Rocks and ice begin to fall, slowly at first then more of
them. The very ground begins to shake and the light begins to grow brighter
and bigger.)
7th night aboard:
(By now long distance scanners should pick up a huge, ominous blob in the darkness
beyond the jumpgate, on a collision course):
A planet. A moon, tiny in the distance, (almost like a small marble) it s coming
closer fast. You must help! URGENT! THE EGG! (The Planet is growing larger
fast)
On the 8th night aboard, it will be too late to safe anyone except for an emergency
evacuation first thing in the morning! But if the players have not figured out what is in
store for them and have not done something about it, they are at least not to die
alone. (The scanners are now picking up a gigantic form just within reach of the
jumpgate. Still not identifiable but closing in fast! Radio contact to other ships is blurry
and scratchy. Some report a vast shadow on their scanners shortly before their
transmissions stop completely. Maybe some terrified screams can be heard over the
last seconds of static. If nobody has figured it out yet, have a NPC make a remark
about void krakens and their aversion to sunlight. Maybe then the coin will fall ...)
You are HAPPY! Someone is HERE to help you out!
Perspective shift
THE EGG! Must help the HATCHLING! (Picture of the planet Iblis and its moon
zooming in fast!)
There will be no 9th night!
(Look to  What the Hell is going on her e for more details if you haven t figured it
out yet. ;o))))))
The actual story or,  What the Hell is going on here? :
There is something down there! It s alive and it s hungry. It s monstrous and it s
deadly. It s a void kraken baby! Calling out for its mommy to come and plug it from its
icy cradle & The dreams had by soldiers and visitors alike on the station are the
psychic emanations of the baby, announcing its imminent hatching. Close to the
planet s surface the emanations are so strong that even non-psychic humans can
receive them. The human mind deciphers them subconsciously and translates them
into haunting feelings of dread combined with the urge to come to aid and surreal
dreams of the planet s surface. The Avestites know of it and so don t want anyone
near the monster, but they haven t actually figured out how to kill it yet. And a giant
flamegun won t be around anywhere soon &
There will be no 9th night! As soon as the adult void kraken arrives in planetary
orbit, everyone aboard will go mad from its immeasurable psychic shriek. In the
process of freeing the newborn, the beast will probably destroy the station or even
the small moon itself, which is to it a mere nuisance. If a battle ensures, there will be
no way to kill the ancient beast. Only the youngling is still weak enough to be
destroyed. If this is done after the adult has freed it, the parent will fall into a mindless
rage and destroy everything on its path back into the dark between the stars. The
only device that will survive this ordeal is the jumpgate.
If the Youngling is killed before the parent arrives at the planet, it will simply cease to
follow its course after the calling stopped and after a few tense minutes of  listening
and mournful calling will turn back into the icy Void. Not all hatchlings survive and
sometimes the old ones come too late. Such is the order of things. (You can play out
that  tragic end of the story just fine, if you want to show your PCs that even
monsters are after all  just human ;o)) )
And to add to the mix. There IS also an actual haunting taking place at the station.
The ghosts of those that died earlier are aware of the impending doom too and want
to warn their lost comrades. But they re incapable of communicating with  normal
humans and so are doomed to repeat their warnings in silent play and repetition of
their dying mistakes. Also, some of the soldiers still follow their original illegal trades
and professions. (See NPC descriptions for that.)
The Hauntings:
The spirits of two restless dead roam the station out to warn their fellow
crewmembers of the impending doom. The first and oldest is a pilot whose ship was
destroyed about six month ago when the Inquisition first tried to seize the planet and
who was unlucky enough to have been on the planet s surface when the Avestites
arrived in force. As it is their custom they burned suspected heretics first and asked
questions later. His badly damaged ship was given back to the fleet with a formal
note of apology and concern for the well being of the station crew s endangered
souls.
He is still attached to his old shuttle and roams the docking bay at night and daytime.
(Where s the difference in space?) He will appear as a slightly transparent  burned to
the crisp husk. A crooked grin etched into his face. No eyelids, no nose or lips and
completely bald. An eyeball is molten out of its socket and the other appears blind.
One of his ears is missing and the other is badly burned. His uniform hangs in burned
tatters and he carries the smell of burning flesh and Kaa oil with him at all times. If
the characters speak to him as a crewmember he will show them his beloved ship
and explain to them that with a bit of effort and knowledge the  old lady could fly
again.
His old ship shows signs of surface to air battle and an eventual crash. Its outer hull
is pockmarked with burn residue from Kaa oil. And the ship is the only true solution to
the station s dilemma.
Lieutenant Roscoe Craver was one of the first to hear and respond to the strange
emanations from the planet s surface and when he investigated, he found more than
he had bargained for. He knows what lies beneath the surface of the moon, but was
killed before he could report his findings to his fellow soldiers. His ship has to be
repaired, packed with explosives and sent into the chasm where the hatchling stirs. It
can be flown by autopilot or by whichever brave soul is heroic or desperate enough
to give her/his life for the station. (A PC out for  Going Down In A Blaze of Glory , or
an NPC of the GMs choosing).
Once the youngling is destroyed, the old one will simply turn around and head back
into the Void. If the PCs mistreat Roscoe somehow, by trying to exorcise him, or
showing too much fear of him, he will simply disappear and come back later.
The second haunting is the ghost of formerly mentioned Private Ally Preston. She
was killed by a fellow crewmember and wants retribution and revenge. Hers is a sad
story to tell. A few days before her final leave, she accidentally stumbled upon a
cache of unlabeled weapons hidden in one of the deeper maintenance tunnels. Not
wanting to get into any trouble she held it her secret, hoping to get off the station and
then telling her superiors on Byzantium Secundus about it. She talked to none about
her discovery, but someone killed her anyway by closing the inner hatch of the airlock
behind her and initialising the opening sequence before she could get into her
cumbersome vacuum suit.
Her spirit now roams the site of her last walk. The maintenance tunnel leading to the
airlock where she died a horrible death. PCs may see her walk down the aisle
towards the lock, seemingly just turning the corner before characters can reach her,
not reacting to calls or anything else. Her sole intent is to show someone how she
died and to make him or her understand that her death was no accident. She has no
idea who killed her and for that matter how that someone found out that she knew of
his illegal business. She wants the PCs to investigate and gain her revenge through
them.
If seen from a distance she will seem like any other female crewmember, except for
some bloodstains on her uniform but those could well have been a trick of the light.
(Make a difficult perception test) Her hair is short, dark and matted to her head by
sweat. She has a rather lithe body as befits a soldier. She was highly trained at the
time of her death. She seems to slip just around the next bend if a PC pursues her,
no matter how hard they will run, she ll always be ahead of him. Until they reach the
airlock. Then suddenly the emergency lights will go on and a loud horn will sound hull
breach alarm. If anyone looks into the airlock he ll see a frightening sight.
The woman they ve been following is frantically trying to don a bulky space suit.
Holding her breath and trying to cope with the decompression process by forcing air
into her head like a diver on old Urth. Desperately fiddling with the zippers and seals
of her suit. Her excellent shape enables her to stand the green and yellow phase of
decompression, which each last about a minute. (Make sure those will be the most
agonizingly fast/long minutes of the PCs life.) But then there is no more air to breathe
left in the lock. The lock s inner hatch won t open to any amount of force. They are
sealed against the cold void of space. No human will be able to open them. (And if it
is opened there will be a mayor hull breach to cope with. Remind all too eager
players of that fact.) The indicator lights will show that the opening of the outer hatch
is imminent, switching from green, to yellow, to red light in an uncaring rhythm. Then
the outer hatch will open with a soft moan and all air will be sucked out of the small
compartment. The concentrated look of the woman becomes a terrified stare as she
plunges for the inner door in one last desperate attempt to save her life. But to no
avail. Her vacuum suit is not sealed. There is no more air to breathe and the cold and
vacuum of the Void are grabbing her with all their frightening might. Her fingers will
freeze to the exit hatch and anyone with enough guts to be still looking at the ghastly
ordeal will see that a thin coating of ice begins to form on her bright blue eyes. Then
she opens her mouth in one last silent scream and dies as the vacuum destroys her
from within. Freezing her organs to lumps of ice and rupturing her lungs like a child s
balloon. Blood will flow from her ears and nose, only to freeze instantly, forming
horrible red patterns of ice flowers on her pale blue skin. In some places her arteries
will burst and spill frozen blood into the low gravity. Slowly falling to the floor, like red
snow. Then her body will be frozen stiff and just hang on to the hatch until it is sealed
again and pressure reinitialised.
Then suddenly everything is back to normal. There is no alarm and no emergency
lights. Just a deserted airlock and a maintenance tunnel. No sign of anyone not
belonging to the PCs. It was all a dream. Or was it?
(Here you can have a rather nice relief scene with PCs trying to explain the things
they just saw to crewmembers or even the captain, if someone called for help... ;o))
Either way, none will believe them. Though they ll get a few sidelong glances and
remarks like:  Weak nobles / civilians , can t stand the pressure. Throw them out ,
etc. IF the PCs call for help and YOU want to be REALY mean, make sure the actual
murderer of the Private is at the scene. He ll recognise the story of his victims death
and will take action against the PCs, adding fuel to the fire. )
If there s more then one PC present, determine now randomly witch one is in for a
little treat. For if he/she looks around, the dead woman will suddenly stand right in
front of him/her. All bloody and torn. She will speak just two words:  Help me! And
point in the direction of the hidden stash of weapons. Then she will vanish. The PCs
should now investigate her death and come to the conclusion that it really was
murder. And hopefully investigate into it, when they find the time to.
(As a means of added suspense you can have the murderer go mental and on a
killing spree around the station, just to add to the horror. Maybe give the team 2
weeks to react. Change all timelines given above as appropriate.) Her murderer will
be revealed in the NPC section of this adventure.
Troubleshooting:
If some of the PCs are  lofty nobles that simply  don t want to get engaged with such
filth as those common soldiers have the good captain call them to the officer s
lounge for a friendly chat and a treat of his special reserve. There Gulcenkov will give
them the ultimate  strip down , with a charming, unfazed smile and an stern look into
their eyes. He will explain to the PCs that  on this station there are no things as
 nobles or  commoners . Everybody has to do his share of duty and maintenance on
this outfit. We re all stuck here. And we re all trying to make this stay as comfortable
as possible. But this won t be possible with someone like you waltzing around and
pronouncing themselves king of the hill. You saw those men and women out there?
They re good people and they re humans just like you and me. A few of them might
be scumbags, but on this station everybody does what they have to do, to survive.
ad infernitum & He will continue in this fashion trying to convince the PCs of their
need to stay  put and do nothing to provoke  bad feelings in his soldiers .
The PCs should realise that it actually IS better to oblige and rather have a few days
of low comfort, than to have a bunch of angry soldiers waiting behind the next bend
to pummel the  loftiness out of the nobles.
NPCs:
Captain Yannik Gulcenkov
The Station s captain of the hour. His tour of duty on this damn hellhole is that of any
higher-ranking officer. 12 months. He hates it. He hates everything about this
damned moon and ist damned planet. If he only hadn t laid the general s daughter ...
Yannik Gulcenkov is a handsome man in his mid thirties. His hair is a deep black and
his eyes are as blue as the seas of Gwynneth. He s in peak shape and a very good
officer. He does not deserve to be on this station. The only reason for this
assignment was that he had a liaison with the daughter of his general back at home
and her daddy found out the hard way. They were going to tell him anyway, but only
if Yannik s bid for repositioning to Byzantium Scundus had been acknowledged, so
they both could have been away from her oppressive father. But the general found
out and in an unusual display of irony sent him to the Byzantium system as he had
wished, only not with his daughter and not to the right planet.
Now all Yannik wants is to get those remaining 4 months behind him and get back to
Gwynneth and into the waiting arms of his bride to be. He s a fair captain to his
soldiers and has earned their respect by not judging any of them for what stained
their personal files. He knows he can depend on the loyalty of his crew since the
Inquisition incident and they know he ll do anything to keep the church bastards off
the station. He has developed a drinking habit in the last 8 months aboard the station
and hides the aforementioned bottle of scotch for himself and  special occasions . He
gets his  stuff from Colonel Winter.
Ltd. James Jameson Winter the 3rd.
James Jameson Winter the 3rd was conducted to 6 months on Derelict for  providing
soldiers which much needed relief from the stress of battling the forces of evil . At
least that s how he sees it. (Actually he was sent here for smuggling illegal goods of
all kinds into army camps. (Ever seen  Sergeant Bilko with Steve Martin?)) He s a
rather good-looking fellow of British descent with a boy s charm and the look of some
Magic Lantern hero. (A bit like Lieutenant Tom Paris from Voyager ;o)) ) If he weren t
a soldier he would make one hell of a Scraver. But he likes it better to reap his own
rewards, instead of paying tithe to some shadowy organisation. He can get you
anything, from anywhere, to anywhere. He has some good contacts in the Scravers
guild but has so far remained low profile enough to not make them suspicious. Mostly
he deals in alcohol, sweets, cigarettes and everything else that is forbidden to the
normal soldier. It is rumoured that he once held a party for some friend of his, with
Obun women to provide the  entertainment & . (He held that party, yes, but there
were just some cheap whores, but who is he to deny such a nice rumour?)
Right now he s in a bit of trouble. It s pretty hard, even for someone of his reputation
and contacts, to get the  good stuff onto this lousy rock. He could ask the PCs for
help in his business, for a (little) share in the profits, if he thinks one or more of them
could be trusted.
GM Note: He is the one most likely to stumble across the hidden weapons (whilst
looking for some place to stave his own illegal goods) and, as the good chap he is,
the one best suited to fall first to the killer s hands, if the PCs have had ample time
getting to know and like him. In case they don t come across the Haunting of Ally
Preston.
Sergeant Norman  Ox Oxford :
The Sergeant is a rather unassuming fellow. He s actually quite the opposite of the
usual  standard issue sarge. For example he does not mind being called  sarge and
some of the soldiers may even call him by his nickname. His uniform always a bit
dishelved, short blonde hair, greying on the sides and a perpetual 5 o clock stubble
make him look more like an old drunkard, rather that what he really is. It is easy to
judge him weak. But that would be only on the surface. Norman Oxford is an ace pilot
and one of the few soldiers on a second term on Derelict. After he had done his first 6
months, he came to the conclusion that there was nothing that called him back to a
 normal life . He lived for the void. He lived for flying into space and for the thrill of
experiencing the rush of jumping to distant solar systems. (GM Note: If you want to,
you can even make him a hidden Sathraist, but that would be too easy. Just let the
players come to their own conclusions.) Sgt. Oxford with his 53 years is easily one of
the oldest crewmembers on the station. His wife died a few years back and they had
no children. He is a veteran of the Emperor Wars and longs for those days of glorious
space battles. His view of the past is rather romantic and not a bit askew but it s his
own dream. He s the one best suited to fly the damaged shuttle into the chasm, to kill
the baby kraken. Just make it look like he s been born to do just that.
(A  Destiny Merit fulfilled ;o)) )
Private Evan O´Connell:
He s the most likely suspect for the Murderer of Ally Preston. And actually a red
herring. His well-muscled body, bald head and chiselled features speak of someone
who gets what he wants. Usually by force. He s the station s bully boy, loudmouth
and trouble magnet rolled into one  charming persona. His tour on Derelict began
after he had done something very unpleasant to a Lieutenant with a Broom, that he
had been given to clean up the mess he had made starting a food fight in the dining
hall. ( Well,& I wuss bored. And dhan dhis Prick says I ve gotta clean da whole floor
with this fu*ing broom of his. So a told ` im where ta put that thing. He said I d repeat
dhat. I did´na repeat. I shoved him!!! ) Have some fun with him and the PCs. Even
though they should, if they actually suspect Evan, over time realise that he d rather
beat someone into submission to further his, rather short-sighted, goals then kill
someone. And that if he would kill someone, he d rather do it with his bare hands, not
as elaborate as setting up a trap. And as for being clever enough to smuggle
something onto and of the station & well &
He s quite a good pilot too and would be the second best choice to  drop the bomb .
Maybe he shows his true good nature in the end&  Moon 44 again.)
Quartermaster Eric  Oil -Fingers Folk:
And now here s the real bastard.
Who else than a quartermaster, who knows the station like the back of his hand could
get some illegal stuff and sell it to someone on the outside. Eric is a large man, with
the face of a child. He smiles continually and his brown eyes sparkle with hidden
amusement. As befits a soldier his hair is cropped short and his uniform is always
clean. He s a bit obsessed with it and will continually rub and clean minor stains off
the cloth. A rather pointless feat, but he manages quite well. He has developed his
own cleaning oil, witch he ll try to sell, for  friendship-price to the PCs if someone s
clothes might get spoiled. He s always helpful and will almost cow tow to any nobles
on the team. He hopes they ll get him off that damned rock. If Scravers are in the PC
group, he ll contact them and try to find out their reason for being on the station. He s
expecting a Scraver contact of his, to get the stolen weapons off the station. If they
don t respond to his well placed remarks, he ll try to be as unsuspicious as he can.
He ll go out of his way to avoid eventual church or Chainer characters. If he learns
that the PCs are investigating the murder he ll try to frame Evan O Connell for it, by
placing  evidence in his bunk.
In any case he ll be as helpful as he can and will do anything not all to obvious to get
the PCs off the Station fast. Always claiming to work in their best interest. His killing
of Ally Preston was a panic reaction. He d witnessed her stumbling across his stash
of guns from a nearby alcove and decided to get her out of the way as fast as
possible.
Only after he d killed her, he heard of her impending end of tour from the captain.
That she hadn t even told Gulcenkov about her findings convinced him of the true
nature of his doing. He deeply regrets the deed, but will do almost anything to avoid
capture. Even going so far as to arranging another accident, if investigators are to
close on his tail. (GM Note: Here s another opportunity for really heroic Game play!
Eric s scared to death of the Avestites and the Church. And if he learns of the
impending doom of the Station and all other options are naught, maybe will rather kill
himself in one last bid to atone for his sin, by plunging to the planet s surface with the
damaged shuttle, thus saving the entire crew, than letting the Church get its hands
on him.)